Mutant Dawn
by Sigridirsson
Summary: Ty, a new mutant discovers his powers and is whisked into the world he was fighting so hard to stay out of. Torn between staying out of matters, and believing a mutant revolution is coming that he should support he finds his place amongst the X-Men. OC.
1. Chapter 1

Depression. It's a fairly common feeling these days. At least for me it is. I mean, I know with what goes on around me all the time I shouldn't feel this way, but it's tough. Working a dead-end job in Midtown, seeing that mansion in the park almost every day, hell, half the time the trains are delayed because a fight broke out and nobody can get anywhere. Honestly, it's any wonder we're all still living here. I have friends, most of them from work, but I never want to bother them with my problems. It's not like they need to be burdened by it, but sometimes I wonder if I should, especially on the nights I wander to the window in the tiny room I'm allotted and look out. Third floor, looking out to a courtyard. Sometimes I wonder if it's enough if I threw myself out. With my luck? It would only half work and I'd be paralyzed or something. Even that's too much to bear so I back away from the window.

Sometimes I watch TV. It's been a lot to look at lately. Crazy things with the world in general, and you know, the people who had that power, that strange power that came from gods know where, I think they were just trying to help. News on that is limited. Power shifted after one of those days, some of it destroyed, and whatever was left was handed to those people in the mansion. If you were around the city that day, you'd hear a lot of people saying it's the right way of things. Those other people had no right to do what they did. They were walking around with weapons, they _were_ walking weapons. Some said they should be destroyed, that they had what was coming to them those years back when most of them just stopped being. Of course, people tried destroying them a lot after that, but they're hardy, strong, superior. Something about that resonated with me, of course, until the depression kicked back in.

Honestly though, I never focused on events like that. I just know what I do because I hear people talking about it. It wasn't part of my world, so I never kept track of things like that. That's how I survived I guess. Just keep your head down and keep your nose to yourself. Sometimes though, it wasn't enough and I'd go out, seek companionship. Little did I know that one night, long after I had forgotten about power, and mansions, and people that may or may not deserve to be destroyed, that world would take me in and make me a part of it.

It was late, around eight-thirty I think. I checked myself out in the mirror, pretty average I think. I'm pretty skinny, short blond hair, sometimes I style it, but more often than not I just let it do what it will. Green eyes, fairly standard, though I guess they're pretty if what I've been told is true. My clothing is pretty average, jeans, a t-shirt, some sneakers. I've never been the kind of guy to wear much else by way of fashion, but at least I think I look nice. I check my phone again and grab my stuff, the guy I'm meeting will be waiting at the bar up the street. I sigh and make sure everything's locked up and head out, completely unaware that this is the last time I'd step foot in this room, the way I am now. So, I make it out to the bar and I see the guy, it's been so long I don't even remember his name. Wade, I think. He's not bad looking, kinda short, blond, an easy smile. I think I liked him, but who knows anymore. He walks up to me and throws his arm across my shoulder, his smile is still easy, I remember it well. The night is mostly a long night of sitting, talking, flirting, and finally, after what seems like thirty drinks (and really it's probably only like four knowing my tolerance), we depart and wander up towards my place.

Honestly, if I had known anything was amiss I probably would've shut myself in my little room and just let the world pass me by, but fate had other plans for me in mind. Wade moved around me, dragging me off to the side from the main street and pulling me against him in the wall. I probably said some stupid quip and he probably grinned, and I probably laughed but I don't remember that part. He leaned in to kiss me, and I leaned back but there was a strange feeling from my hands and I pulled back, that was when it broke loose. Sparks, not the kind from static electricity but like small embers flared into existence from my hands, they fizzled out seconds after appearing with a small popping noise, their colors varied and bright. My eyes probably went wide, and I know I felt my jaw drop. I quickly shook my hands but the sparks didn't stop and that's when things suddenly went dark. I never even heard the shouts or notice the fist coming right for my face. Wade had run, apparently, when the guys came over but I was too distracted. I don't know what happened after I was hit, but when I rose back up I could taste blood and there were dark scorches along the walls and whoever hit me was nowhere to be found. I stumble towards the wall and keep my hand there and rest for a moment, trying to find where the taste of blood came from. I soon discover my lip is split and I'm definitely having a black eye later. It's all I can do to push myself back up and stumble home, all while wondering why I was attacked. Honestly, it was probably people seeing me going to kiss another guy and getting bashed for that.

The possibilities of who or what attacked me flood my mind as I manage to get back into my room, locking the door behind me. I grab the rag from my nightstand in the dark and turn on the light, only to let out a sharp scream. Sitting on my bed, completely content with herself is a woman. Impossibly beautiful, her hair is short, cropped and blond. Her clothes, if you could count them as such are tailored well, but seem to be a bit extreme, all black from the heavy looking boots to the top which exposes quite a bit or her chest and is split to her navel. Her expression is cold, icy almost, which seems to fit everything I can tell about her so far. Her lips, full and red, are pursed as her bright blue eyes run over me. I want to yell, for help, for her to get out, for something but I can't. She crosses one leg over the other, an extension that is both graceful and precise, almost an unsaid threat that she could take me out and not even try. I don't have much reason to doubt it, but then my mind starts running. How did she get in here? Why was she sitting in the dark for no reason? If she's a burglar is she planning on killing me because I've discovered her? How did she get in anyway?

"Relax." She speaks, her voice is even, clear, and much like the rest of her is beautiful to hear. Her accent is hard to place, maybe a slight British inflection but if anything she's decidedly American. "I'm not here to cause you injury, and your..._home_ has nothing worth stealing, darling." She speaks with such disdain for my living arrangements. Of course I can't please everyone, especially uninvited guests so I don't really take her tone to heart.

It's then I notice another girl standing nearby. Her hair is blond like the woman on my bed, but longer, her outfit is strange too, more black with much more exposed than should be necessary. Something about her seems foreign, or off. I'm too confused as to how she just appeared, because I could've sworn it was just me and the woman moments ago.

The woman on my bed speaks again, this time her tone is softer, more concerned. "I know about what happened to you tonight. I saw who attacked you. I know why they attacked you." She stands, I flinch. She seems a bit deterred by the action and moves over, grabbing the rag from my hand and gently lifting it up and dabbing at the blood. I try not to make any noises but it hurts, quite a bit. I look at her, only about an inch shorter than me, but her eyes are strange, like she's searching for something, or studying me or something. "You, young man, are a mutant. Much like my friend here, much like I am. Do these words mean anything to you?" She releases the rag to my care and steps back, still looking at me searchingly.

_ Mutant._ That's what they were called. The ones with the power that the ones in the mansion fought. I learned about them in school, but I can never remember any of their names. "Yes. I know the word." That's all I manage to say, but judging by their facial expressions I think they don't believe me. I just stand there, split lip, black eye, maybe some other wounds I haven't even had time to inspect.

It's the other girl's turn to speak, and now I hear it. The accent is unmistakable, but I know I can't fully place it. "There is a revolution starting. Mutants are rising up, surely you know what's happened with mutants all these years?" She seems annoyed, like I'm an idiot for being ignorant to these issues. But her words start the gears turning in my brain, I remember the sentinels, the giant robots that would destroy mutants where they stood. But between cosmic entities threatening to swallow the earth, those guys that spider guy fights downtown, or any other number of strange things that happen around this city I've completely forgotten what happens with anyone these days. The woman with the short hair stops short from saying something and looks over her shoulder at the younger girl. There's some sort of exchange between them but I can't tell what they're saying to one another because it appears to just be through facial expression. I sit there, silently, waiting for the women to just vanish like how they appeared.

The woman with the short hair turns around and gives a quick nod. "We'll keep in touch. Just remember to be careful, these are dangerous times and I wouldn't want you to fall in the wrong hands." She tilts her head up ever so slightly, almost making it feel like a threat. The other girl does something strange and the two of them vanish in a flash of yellowish light. All I'm left with is a strange disease at what I just saw. Sure, crazy things happen all over the world, but when two women break into your apartment through teleportation or something like that, it tends to unnerve you.

I slump down onto my bed and put the rag back to my lip. The bleeding hasn't fully stopped but it doesn't look that bad, and hopefully I won't need stitches. Mutants, huh? I remember they were nearly wiped out. I thought they were gone, that nobody else would be a mutant. I grab my laptop and bring it onto my lap, letting myself get lost in the research for a while. Information is forthcoming with the internet. The mutants, or more specifically the X-Men have been around for a long time, and everything I see makes me cringe. Everything from their beginning, to Genosha, to the refounding of Genosha for mutants, their decimation, their struggle upstate and in California. It's heartbreaking and I understand now the revolution that the woman was talking about. I see message boards full of information, the words "Cyclops was Right" is written across the internet. If this is how they treat mutants, then things _should _change. Struggling with being gay was hard enough, I can't imagine how people younger than me would handle being a mutant.

I close my laptop slowly, rubbing my eyes from exhaustion when something catches my eye out the window. It's faint but there's a glow out there, my eyes are drawn up out of my window and to the sky. I'd be lying if I said my pants remained completely dry. Staring down at me, towering above the apartment building was a giant robot, complete with purple armor. The words find my lips at once: Sentinel. I'm about to run, scream, something when I feel a hand on my shoulder and some strange words being uttered as I'm yanked backwards. There's a flash of pink light and suddenly I'm sitting on the lawn of some strange building, mixed marble columns with brick and some sort of floating metal buildings that certainly can't be part of the natural charms. My eye is drawn to those that are gathered around, half expecting to see the two from before but I can't spot them in the small crowd that's gathered. Instead I see a girl with pink hair and strange bug-like wings, a young woman that can't be much older than me with brown hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, a woman with white hair cut into a rather flowing mohawk (which I found rather strange to see on a black woman), a short man with far too much body hair looking rather gruff and another woman with short red hair and strange tattoo markings on her face. They spoke to one another in hushed tones but I was a little too disoriented to really start making sense of what was being said, though I did hear the words "Sentinel" and "attack" being thrown around.

The man steps forward and offers his hand and I take it, being pulled up with surprising ease for the guy's size, despite my being a head taller than him, though he does seem to be extremely muscular. I take a couple steps out of the circle that has formed around me, and as I nearly bowl into the brown haired girl I feel myself unhindered passing right through her. I manage to choke out a small yelp of surprise but that only seems to get laughs from the group. I immediately know that at least these people are mutants too, like those two from before.

"Easy there bub. You got a lot to be scared of, we ain't one of them." The man growled, though when he speaks it seems almost calming.

"Yes child, we're here to help you. The Sentinels nearly got you if Pixie hadn't caught you and brought you back." The mohawked woman spoke next, her accent a bit richer but sounding rather melodic. I immediately like her. When she gestures to the girl with the pink hair I have no doubts that she is Pixie.

"Yeah! It was a close save but I got you out of there with a tidy save!" She seemed chipper enough, her wings flicking a bit behind her and shining different colors in the lights coming from the building behind her. She moved over to my side and patted my shoulder a couple of times reassuringly before vanishing in a flash of pink light. I guess the surprise registers on my face because the others laugh again.

"She does that." The girl with the brown hair explains, her tone light. Honestly, she can't be much older than me but she seems so much wiser for some reason. "I'm Kitty Pryde and this is the Jean Grey School. We are a safe harbor and school for mutants like you." She smiled and extended her hand for me to shake. I do for a moment and let it drop, looking at the others.

"Come, let's get inside and we can speak with this guy." The red haired woman spoke up, jabbing her thumb at the school and began walking inside, the others following her example, moving to talk to one another. Kitty, the short man and the mohawk woman all began talking to each other in hushed tones while shooting glances, and when they noticed I saw them, smiles in my direction.

The interior of the school is fairly nice, albeit average. Lockers, doors to classrooms, stairs up, signs pointing to dormitories and labs. I don't have much time to really pay attention because Kitty is gesturing for me to follow her and who I've overheard being called Logan, upstairs as the others head off in various directions. As we enter an office that looks fit for the headmaster, I can't help but think how surreal it all feels. Today started out so normal, just had to sit in my little box and then have a date and then it all went to hell. I still don't even know what my mutant abilities are other than making small sparks appear, though it doesn't seem to matter to these people because they haven't even bothered to ask. My attention is snapped back when Logan sits down in his chair and laces his fingers together, looking at me with that same feeling of being sized up the woman in my room gave me. I get a little unnerved. It feels like I'm seeing the principal after doing something bad. I look over to Kitty who is standing off to the side and she seems pleasant enough. I take a deep breath and wait for him to talk.

"First things first. You got a name? And just what is it that you can do?" He asks but the way he says it seems more like he already knows. For a long moment I stay silent, trying to figure out just how to describe what I think happened, not even thinking about how beat up I must still look.

"Uh, yeah. My name is Ty. My...what I can do, uh, I make sparks? Like, I don't know how to explain it..." I stammer out. It's unnerving how he is looking at me, so I just keep my gaze on Kitty and speak directly to her as if Logan isn't in the room.

"Can you show us, Ty?" She offers, up, making an encouraging gesture with her hands. I blink a couple of times. I don't even know how I did it the first time, let alone how to make it work another time. I just bring my hands up, palms flat and close my eyes, trying to remember how it felt. There's a brief moment of silence and suddenly I feel the faint heat returning to my hands and I hear the faint popping noises the sparks give off. I slowly open my eyes to see Logan and Kitty exchanging glances curiously.

"Isn't that what..." Kitty asked, her brow lofted curiously.

"Yeah, it is. Similar at least." Logan grunted to her and turned his gaze back to me. "That's enough you can stop." And I nod, closing my hands and shaking them like last time but when I open there's still a couple of faint pops before it stops.

"There, you've seen what I can do. Can...can I go home now?" I ask, my own brows raised a bit as I rub my arm idly. I know it isn't ideal but at least there I can collect my thoughts and just be away from all of this overwhelming weirdness. I can go back to my dead end job, I can go back to being normal. _This is what they talk about. It's like being gay, it's not something wrong, it's something you are. It's why there's a revolution taking place._ I have to remind myself that now and shake my head a little bit while Kitty and Logan move in to discuss something without my listening. After a long moment of silence they both turn to me and Kitty steps around...no, through the desk. I can't help but feel a bit uneasy with it, but I try to put on a brave face for her.

"You're not a prisoner here, we're not going to keep you locked up. We do think it'd be best if you stayed here at least for the night while the Sentinels are still out, but if you don't want to stay we understand." She steps forward and rests her hand gently on my shoulder, looking genuinely concerned and how can I not agree?

"Yeah, sure. That makes sense. For, uh, safety reasons." I nod seriously, and move all too willingly out of the office with Kitty, Logan's staring still keeping me a little on edge. We move in relative silence through the hallways. I assume all of the students are asleep, or at least pretending to be asleep with how late it is, but I wonder what kinds of kids go here, what kind of mutants are around. I've already seen teleportation twice over, I've seen Kitty walking through objects, I can create sparks, I've seen Pixie's wings. It's impressive, how different each person can be, and my mind reels at the possibilities of powers. By the time Kitty opens a door to a room I'm finding myself exhausted.

The room, however is lavish, at least by my standards. A large bed, a beautiful open window with a view of the grounds, what seems to be a private bathroom. Really it seems far more than any guest should get but I suppose the mutants take care of their own. I turn to Kitty to say something but she quickly cuts me off. "Don't worry about a thing. If you're hungry we can send some food up, or you can find the kitchen I'm sure. Otherwise there should be a change of clothing in the closet for you, I think we'll have something in your size. Forgive the uniform look, it'll be all we have right now, unless you decide to stay and then we can see about getting more things for you." Kitty nodded and flashed a large smile before turning on her heel and vanishing through the door itself. I decide that I like her too. I sigh and content myself to pace the room a little bit, until I feel even more tired. After a while I just decide to content myself with sleep. I throw my clothing on a heap in the floor and move into the bed, settling in and finding myself almost immediately knocked out. Though I really can't tell if it's the luxury of the bed or the exhaustion from all that happened today. All I can recall is my last thoughts of the day, _What do I do now, as a mutant?_


	2. Chapter 2

Sleep. It's the one thing that hasn't eluded me tonight. For some reason, I feel safe here. Sure, it might be the fact that I'm in a bed that's well and beyond the level of comfort I'm used to, or maybe it's the fact that I'm around people who know how to fight and how to defeat a sentinel if one does try to show up. Honestly, I think it's something deeper than that. Something more primal. The instinctive need to be around others like yourself, at least, partially. You know, herd mentality. I'm comforted and sleeping, but for some reason I still seem to wake up some time just before dawn. I can see the tendrils of pink and orange starting across the sky as the sun begins to rise.

I roll over in the bed and try to find a comfortable position to pass out again when I feel it. That gut instinct that you're being watched. That you're not alone. I shift to sit up and slowly scan the room. There, in the corner by the window, sitting just off into the shadows is the woman from before. Her features are stern but she seems oddly pleased with me. Or maybe just herself. I open my mouth to say something but she cuts me off, "We can't speak for long. They'll be here any minute," Her tone is hushed and she's speaking quickly, "There's another option. The revolution is happening and we need all mutants to be with us, a united front. I can get you to him, but we won't kidnap you. If you want to come to us, use this locator somewhere away from the school." She tosses me a little device, something metal and cool to the touch. It's round and has a red X splashed across it. I look up to say something, to ask a question, anything really but she's gone. Vanished again, but the other girl wasn't around. At least I don't think she was.

It was just a dream, or at least that's what I try to convince myself. I fall back into the pillows and set the device on the nightstand right as Kitty slips in through the door again. She's dressed strangely, a black and yellow outfit, looking more like a jumpsuit than anything else, but I can't quite put into words what it is. I quickly look at her face, a scowl is clearly present across her lips. Something's wrong, something bad. Her gaze settles on me, and there's no use in pretending I'm asleep because our eyes lock for a moment. Her expression softens a bit but doesn't seem as if she's going to let whatever is bothering her slip by.

"Ty. I need to ask you a few questions, do you mind getting dressed and coming with me to go talk for a bit?" She speaks quietly, but her tone suggests I don't really have much of an option. I give a weak nod and she smiles a bit, just before she slips out of my room through the floor. I furrow my brows for a moment, realizing she hasn't even told me where I should be going to meet with her. I suppose it doesn't really matter. I slowly push myself out of bed and wander into the bathroom. State of the art is probably an understatement. I can't even tell what half the things do on the wall, but at least the shower seems pretty standard. I strip off my clothes, finding that I had gotten a bit of blood on them from that fight I got into. I turn to the mirror and find that I'm pretty bruised and beaten, a couple more cuts are on my body but I don't seem to feel the pain from them. I must look like a mess to the people I've seen around. Pixie, Logan, Kitty, those other women, the woman that keeps appearing, but if they're concerned about them they don't show it. Just how often do they see people in my condition anyway. If their lack of reaction is any indication, far too often is the answer.

The shower was fine, but when I emerge and go into the closet for whatever passes for clothes I'm a bit surprised. Yellow and black, just like what Kitty and Pixie were wearing. I suppose it's better than nothing. I slip it on and it's a pretty good fit surprisingly, but the huge yellow gauntlets and boots that are sitting with the uniform are a bit strange. I throw fashion to the wind and slip them on, securing everything with a belt, a similar X resting in the middle of the buckle. I'm sure it looks weird. I mean, I feel weird for wearing it, but I guess it doesn't matter, not at this school.

I wander about the room for a few moments and pick up the device that woman gave me. It feels heavier than I remember as I toss it in the air a few times and catch it again. Do I leave the room and see if Kitty's outside, or do I just wait in here to be called? The longer I pace the more frustrated I get just sitting there and waiting. Finally I wrench open the door and come face to chest with a gigantic wall of blue fur. For a moment I wonder who put a rug in my path but when I slowly look up I see the face and shrink back, but whoever, or whatever the thing is just smiles as he crouches through the doorway and enters the room, right behind him is Kitty, Logan and some Asian girl with pink glasses on her head and a long yellow coat. Weird.

"My stars and garters, it's early. Well, no time to waste, let's get going." The giant blue...thing speaks first, wandering over to the wall and opening a panel I didn't even know was there. He presses a few buttons and the door slides closed and the windows were shut. Or at least that's what I thought until I could feel the room moving. The others stood silently, Kitty wandering around the room and drumming her fingers on her side, Logan leaned up against the door frame with his hands crossed over his chest and his gaze down and the Asian girl just stared at me in a peculiar way. I just averted my gaze and looked over to the big blue creature, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. When I felt a small lurch the others shifted and all moved to the door, which opened up into a strange room. A holographic globe bathed the room in a pale green glow, and chairs were gathered around the table that the globe hovered over and the people that had gathered moved to take a few. As I stepped into the room I heard the door to the room close and the churning of gears as it departed wherever we were, I assumed. I took a seat as close to Kitty as I dared, leaving a chair between us. The lights slowly gained in intensity as the giant blue man punched in a few buttons.

"Uh, I'm sorry but...can I..." I spoke up but quickly swallowed my voice as all the eyes in the room shifted over towards me. Most of them I didn't mind, but Logan and the girl with the pink glasses unnerved me the most. Between them I seemed to feel like prey more than anything else.

"Ah, you're probably wondering why we asked you down here! It's nothing you've done, I assure you. You are most certainly not in trouble." The blue creature laughed good-naturedly and oddly enough it put me a bit more at ease.

"Right, we're gathered because we got an alert. We need to know what Emma has been talking to you about." Logan growled, and with a strange noise claws popped out of his hands. I'm sure that if I could have, I would've toppled back out of the chair and put as much space between us.

Kitty sighed and put her hand to her forehead, "Logan, you're frightening him. He's not going to talk like that. I bet he doesn't even know the first thing about Emma, or Magik." She sounded a little more than exasperated.

"Screw that! I want to know what he's doing with my powers." The Asian girl spoke. Immediately her age betrays her. She's probably the same age as me, but the Californian accent is unmistakable. I don't know what to respond though. Her powers? Is that even how it works?

"We will figure that out Jubilee, that's what Hank's doing here." Kitty cut off the rest of them before they could speak. From the way the blue creature is nodding, I can tell that he's Hank. Jubilee though? What kind of name is that?

"Well great." Jubilee huffed and blew a lock of hair up out of her face and slumped down onto the table with her head in her hands. I watch her for a moment and then let my gaze wander around the others. Something unspoken seems to be in the air but I feel left out of the loop. It almost seems silly, or maybe it's fate, or something else forcing my circumstances beyond my control but as I open my mouth to even bother asking an alarm goes off and the lights in the room go from a dim grey to a sanguine red.

"The school's under attack..." Logan shouted above the alarm.

"Again?" Kitty huffed.


End file.
